(a) Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a device for aiding in grasping or reaching for articles at a distance. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a grasping device which includes a telescoping body and a pair of opposable, parallel acting, jaws.
(b) Discussion of Known Art
The need to extend one's reach in order to grasp or manipulate articles at a distance from one's body has been long felt. Accordingly, there have been many approaches at solving the problems associated with extending one's reach. For example, in U.S. Pat. No.690,567 to Dryan a tool for aiding in the picking of flowers or fruit has been taught. The Dryan tool uses a set of jaws which move in a generally parallel manner relative to one another in order to grasp the stem of a flower or fruit being picked with the tool. The jaws are activated by means of a rod which is slid through a tube. The rod is fixedly connected to one of the jaw sections, and the tube is fixedly connected to the opposing jaw section. Thus, moving the rod within the tube moves the jaw sections in a parallel manner relative to one another. Unfortunately, however, this early tool has disadvantages in that in order to extend or vary the reach achieved with a tool, one must provide a longer tube and a longer rod, and some sort of attachment or connection means for attaching these extensions. A further disadvantage of this design is that operation requires the use of two hands to activate the jaws. Many times when an extension tool is needed, the user will not have both hands available, or may not have the ability to provide the pumping action along the tool to activate or close the jaws.
Another approach at providing an extension tool is caught in U.S. Pat. No. 872,748 to Putney. The Putney device, however, is disadvantaged in that it uses a solid rod actuator, together with scissoring jaws. The scissoring action is particularly disadvantaged and the scissoring action tends to pinch the article being gripped at a location closest to the vertex of the scissoring limbs. This can lead to excessive pressure at a location where great force is not desired, and float or no pressure where one actually wants to exert a force.
Another extension or gripping device is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 960,070 to Brown which uses parallel acting jaws. The jaws of the Brown device must be actuated by means of a rigid rod or link which must be used to push one of the jaw sections to the open position. The use of a rigid rod or link to push the jaw open greatly reduces the ability or feasibility of extending the length of reach of the device. As was discussed earlier, in order to extend a shaft or rod one must provide extension sections of the desired length as well as means for inserting in attaching these extension sections to the balance of the body of the tool.
Yet another tool for allowing the extension of one's grip is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 1,638,703 Pendleton. The Pendleton device, however, suffers from similar disadvantages as its predecessors. Namely, the device uses solid links which are difficult to extend. Moreover, the Pendleton device uses a variation of a scissoring or levered type action to grip articles. As discussed above, this is disadvantaged in that it results in pinching or uneven gripping of the article being picked up or clamped.
Variations on the above devices include the structure shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,741 to Ziese. The Ziese device includes a pair of L-shaped jaws which are used in a scissoring manner. The Ziese device can be extended, however, by fixed increments which use the rigid component of fixed lengths.
Another variation is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,762,647 to Guest. The Guest patent teaches the use of a wire and reel to activate a jaw that opposes a stationary jaw member. The Guest device offers important advantages in that it uses the flexible cable or wire to move one jaw section against another jaw section. The flexible cable, however, requires a series of pulleys or sheaves to allow tension to be transmitted from a ratchet means to the jaws in order to close and keep the jaws in a closed position. The use of cables and pulleys to close the jaws presents important disadvantages. A significant disadvantage is the possibility of having the cables jump the pulleys, and thus preventing proper operation of the device. Additionally, the wire and pulley arrangement requires that a pulley be placed near the moving jaw in order to pull against the spring and the jaw. Still further, the pulley and pull wire arrangement taught by Guest requires that the take-up unit or pawl mechanism be incorporated into the system in order to allow adequate movement of the wire to properly close the jaws. Still further, the device taught by Guest does not address the problems or advantages of providing a set of jaws that move in a generally parallel manner relative to one another. More importantly, Guest does not teach or suggest how to provide for such a mechanism.
Thus, it will be apparent of the above discussion that there remains a need for a simple reach device which will provide jaws that will move in a generally parallel manner relative to one another.
There remains a need for an extension or reaching device which does not require the use of ratchets or pumping action in order to activate or close the jaws.
There remains a need for a reaching device which can be elongated or extended.
There remains a need for a reaching and grasping device which can grasp articles at various angles.